Jal Sansthan temporarily restores 1,201 water projects
Dehradun, July 30
Though the Jal Sansthan has temporarily restored 1,201 drinking water projects that were damaged in the disaster last months, it will take several months to restore drinking water projects in Gaurikund, Rambara, Sivili, Papdasu, Kunj and Madhmaheshwar falling on the Kedarnath route.

Dehradun, July 30
After the Matu Jansanghatan, the Vishnuprayag Dam calamity-affected people’s group in Chamoli district, too, has held the Vishnuprayag Hydropower Project operated by the Jayprakash group responsible for flash floods in the Alaknanda that led to devastation in villages of Lambagarh, Vinayak Chatti, Pandukeshwar, Govindghat and inoli Ghat.

Shortly after the devastation the Matu Jansangathan had said the Vishnuprayag Hydropower Project was responsible for sudden floods in the Alaknanda.

Now, the Vishnuprayag Dam calamity-affected people’s group, too, has written to Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanti Natarajan, Union Minister for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Water Resources Harish Rawat and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, holding the Vishnuprayag Hydropower Project responsible for devastation in their villages.

“We live downstream of the Vishnuprayag Dam. On June 16 and 17, flash floods washed away homes, hotels, bridges, agriculture fields and forests in villages of Lambagarh, Pandukeshwar, Govindghat, Vinayak Chatti and Pinola Ghat. These floods were caused as the gates of the Vishnuprayag Dam built by the Jaiprakash group were not opened in time,” claimed Dinesh Panwar of the Vishnuprayag Dam calamity-affected people’s group.

He said the fact was that initially when the floods started the staff of the Jaiprakash group opened the gates of the dam and emptied the reservoir before closing them again. “But when the floods continued and started to fill the reservoir again, they failed to open the gates this time. As a result, the gates were damaged due to a heavy inflow of sediments and huge boulders, leading to the formation of a lake. This huge lake spread over 1.5 km became ferocious and starting with the dam it destroyed everything that came in its way. This makes it clear that the destruction in our area occurred due to the bad intention and negligence on the part of the Jayprakash group,” he said. The Jayprakash group must pay for their losses, he added.

Vimalbhai of the Matu Jansangthan joined the issue and said they too had written to both Central and state authorities about the devastation caused by the Vishnuprayag Hydropower Project but were still waiting to see what action the government takes. He said the Jaiprakash group must immediately pay for the damages in the affected villages. They would launch a mass agitation if the company failed to compensate the villagers.

The Matu Jansangathan is waging a struggle in Garhwal hills against the construction of hydropower projects terming it detrimental to environment and the people of the region.

Dehradun, July 30
Though the Jal Sansthan has temporarily restored 1,201 drinking water projects that were damaged in the disaster last months, it will take several months to restore drinking water projects in Gaurikund, Rambara, Sivili, Papdasu, Kunj and Madhmaheshwar falling on the Kedarnath route.

"We have been providing water in the Kedarnath temple through temporary pipes since July 23. However, it will take some more months to make available piped water in the villages on the Kedarnath route," said Subodh Kumar, Secretary (administration), Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan.

Engineers from the Jal Sansthan have been working overtime to restore the damaged water pipes and connections that have been buried under sand and debris.

"All equipment have to be ferried through helicopters and due to inclement weather, flights are uncertain," said Subodh Kumar.

Water schemes falling in Ghat Pinola, Bhyundar and Peni Chak (Bhyundar) in Chamoli district and Paithani, Kola Patal and Pabu in Pauri district have been extensively damaged and would require three to four months for restoration.

"The damage has been unprecedented both in terms of money and resources. It will take more than a year to bring these damaged schemes back on track. But through temporary rubber pipes, water is being supplied to the villagers. In some places like in Uttarkashi, we have managed to tap the Gangori water source for the time being," said Subodh Kumar.

Even River Bank Filtration (RBF) plants set up in Srinagar and Karnprayag have been damaged and buried under sand.

"In Srinagar alone, the water level had reached 15 m during the flooding that led to an extensive damage to equipment.

However, in Haridwar, we have managed to repair the RBF plant because the damage was less and it is working," said Subodh Kumar.

The Jal Sansthan has spent a total of Rs 801 lakh so far on temporary repair work.

A total of 1,201 water schemes in Garhwal and Kumaon were damaged. Of this, the maximum number of water schemes (862) were damaged in Garhwal and 339 in Kumaon. As many as 1,133 water schemes have been temporarily restored in the state.

Mussoorie, July 30
A survey done by students of Kendriya Vidyalaya has revealed that one out of four persons is suffering from hypertension (high blood pressure). This finding has shattered the myth of the town being as one of the most health conscious in the region.

More than 40 students, under the guidance of their life science teacher, Dr Rahul Gaud, conducted a random sample survey to determine the well-being of the people residing in and around the town. They found that one person out of every four sampled in the age group of 16-60 years was suffering from hypertension.

The survey also revealed that the around 80 per cent of the women were suffering from hypertension. A large percentage of the youth was also suffering from hypertension, revealed the survey.

Dr Gaud says that the major reason figured out for the disease was stress in every age group. Among the youth, the stress about their career and success was a major reason for hypertension, while adults above 40 years termed stress at their workplace as the main reason.

For women, the increased alcoholism among men led to an increase in the stress level along with the worry of running the household in this age of high inflation. Some also termed the breaking up of the social fabric as one of the reason for the disease.

With the stress levels increasing, villages such as Kempty have also not remained untouched from the disease as more than 70 pe cent people surveyed were found to be under the grip of hypertension.

Dr. Gaud said that the startling feature of the survey was that many who said they were suffering from hypertension avoided medication. Many said they were back on track with regular exercises. “Many were non-serious towards the disease and termed it as a small thing” added Dr Gaud.

Jayant, class X student involved in the survey, said he had gained immense knowledge about the disease. Anukool Thapa, Nikhil Saklani and Ishani Jayara, also involved in the project, said they got to know that hypertension should not be taken lightly as it could cause major complications if neglected.

A health and social activist, Dr Sunil Sanon, said hypertension often goes unnoticed and leads to serious health conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and heart failure.

Dr Sanon also said that it is true that younger people are suffering from hypertension and the major reason for that is as the disease is hereditary.

Another reason for the disease among the youth is an increase in stress levels and unhealthy lifestyles which result in obesity, smoking and chewing tobacco . “High blood pressure is the enemy which targets various organs of the body, including brain and eye," said Dr.Sanon.

The way to avoid high blood pressure is instead of spending time in front of computer or television, people should do physical exercises and avoid fats or junk food, added Dr Sanon. He said the doctors could help in controlling the disease by recording the blood pressure of every patient who visits them. At government hospitals, every patient's record of blood pressure should be maintained as it would serve as important data forfuture, added Dr Sanon.

Dehradun, July 30
The last date of deposition of fee for Haj pilgrims from Uttarakhand has been extended till August 5.

Earlier, July 27 was the last date. A decision to this effect was taken by the Haj Committee of India, Mumbai.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Uttarakhand State Haj Committee's secretary RS Yadav disclosed that extension of date for deposition of fee till August 5 will be helpful to those Haj pilgrims from Uttarakhand who had failed to deposit the fee till stipulated date of July 27. SS Yadav also categorically held that those pilgrims who still failed to deposit the fee till August 5 will have their names deleted from the list and people from the waiting category will be given preference. He also held that the State Haj Committee will soon hold training and medical camps and other checkups for the pilgrims before they proceed for the pilgrimage.

Dehradun, July 30
A team of 15 Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) employees led by Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harsh Vardhan Mishra removed more than 100 hoardings, including a big one of a university, from the New Cantt Road today. It had removed about 100 small hoardings from the Rajpur Road yesterday.

Another big hoarding on the Race Course crossing was also removed. The team faced no resistance during the drive. However, it did not touch the hoardings put up by the Public Relations Department of the state government reading social messages. It would proceed towards the Chakrata Road tomorrow.

Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Ashok Kumar had given directions for holding tenders for hoardings on 25 roads of the city.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli said illegal hoardings were put up more in the outer areas of the city. “Since illegal hoardings have been removed from the city, the violators have installed hoardings in outer areas. This way they are not easily caught. Second, their hoardings are easily visible to people coming from other cities and states,” he said.

The DMC has started a drive against illegal hoardings in the city. Since it has already removed almost all big hoardings on the direction of the Nainital High Court, it is now focusing on small ones. These hoardings have either been installed on bamboo sticks or pipes on roadsides or stuck on treetops. 

Dehradun, July 30
A 10-member delegation of the Jawan Kisan Morcha, Uttarakhand, met Governor Aziz Qureshi here today and submitted a memorandum of demands related to ex-servicemen and their dependents to him.

The memorandum spoke about the appointment of a person below than the rank of officer on the post of deputy chairman of UPNL, organising ex-servicemen below the rank of officers, giving direct employment to ex-servicemen (to avoid the commission of UPNL), recruiting ex-servicemen and their dependents in CSD canteens and exempting widows of ex-army personnel from House Tax and Water tax of the municipal corporation. The Governor assured them that the demands would be studied, reviewed and then only some initiative would be taken. The delegation was led by JKM national general secretary Laxman Singh Rawat.

Dehradun, July 30
The Uttarakhand BJP today ratified the appointment of eight youth leaders as presidents of district units of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Didhat, Rudraprayag, Haldwani, Kotdwar, Pachwadoon, Parvadoon, Chamoli and Roorkee districts.

Urba Datt of the Uttarakhand BJP said Rakesh Tiwari had been appointed district president of the BJP Yuva Morcha Didihat, Ashish Negi of Rudraprayag, Vikas Bhagat of Haldwani, Amit Bhardawaj of Kotdawar, Ravinder Rawat of Parvadoon, Naveen Thakur of Pachwadoon, Ashish Thapliyal of Chamoli and Aman Tyagi of Roorkee.

Dehradun, July 30
Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) has not paid allowance of Rs 20,000 per person to 47 supervisors who were engaged in conducting social, economic and caste census last year. Not only this, the corporation has also hired 29 of them again for verification of the same census. Besides these, 300 unemployed youngsters who conducted the survey have not paid the allowance of Rs 6000 per person as well.

These supervisors are coming to DMC premises every day. A legal notice has been served to them by Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (AMNA) Harsh Vardan Mishra that if they did not turn up for the training for verification work on July 31, then legal action would be taken against them. Supervisor Shravan Kumar said:''We completed the supervision of census work in November last year and should have been paid our allowance immediately. But seven months have passed since then and we have got no cheques and no assurance either from DMC in this regard.'' He said just 29 of them had been called to undertake the verification work of the census conducted, while remaining had been let off this additional work. ''Since the supervision work was carried out by all the 47 persons, so the verification should be conducted by all of them. Those of us who would undertake it, will not be paid extra for this additional work. This is not justice with us.''

Another supervisor AM Joshi said they had been given some other wards to supervise about which they knew nothing. ''We have been given different wards than those about which we had conducted supervision.

Hence I don't know anything about these wards and am unable to understand how will I carry the verification. This hotch-potch in the distribution of wards has made our work more complicated and cumbersome,'' he added.

Supervisor Harvardhan Kumar, who works as faculty member with an intercollege in the city, has been asked to take leave from his work for verification works without telling for the extent of the period of leave required for this. He said:''We have been called to attend the

training at the auditorium hall of DMC where already training of booth-level officers is going on. The officials do not know about the venue themselves. Not only this, we have not been given any document or brief about the work. Nor are the officials clear about the period required to complete the census work.''

On the matter of allowance, AMNA Harshvardhan Mishra said that he would ensure that all the supervisors got their allowance cheques in the next five days.

Dehradun, July 30
Members owing allegiance to the Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers' Federation continued with their relay dharna at the Pey Jal Nigam in support of their long-pending demands and ''high-handed behaviour'' of the MD of Pey Jal Nigam.

The members today threatened to convert their peaceful dharna into a statewide dharna if there demands were not met.

The general secretary of the federation Arun Rawat said that they had been demanding honourable settlement of their long-pending departmental grievances but the MD of Pey Jal Nigam deliberately delayed the matter. ''In order to harass the employees, the MD has been deliberately sitting on files and not taking decisions on the issues like doing away with the practice of holding examinations for Assistant Engineers. We have been opposing this move for the last several months and an agreement was also reached but the MD deliberately sat on the matter,'' charged Rawat.

Dehradun, July 30
Residents of Kochar colony met Mayor Vinod Chamoli today and opposed installation of sewer pipes illegally in the area.

Resident Shyam Kumar said: ''A builder is already releasing sewerage residue towards nullah side in the colony. He has diverted the sewerage pipes towards the colony and connected these with the embankment. Now a sewer line is being connected on the road as well.”

Rekha Ghildiyal, another resident, said: “If the pipe got perforated or the embankment fell down, then the sewerage released towards colony will overflow on the roads. One can imagine the plight of the residents in such a situation.”

A big builder, who is incidentally also owner of a plush hotel in the city, has encroached upon DMC land and built a multi-storey building in the colony. When the DMC registered an FIR against him, he got a stay from High Court. The residents are suspecting his handiwork in the entire matter. However, no one could verify who was precisely behind these activities. DMC officials, too, had no knowledge of the matter until the residents drew their attention towards it. Mayor Vinod said: “I have sent Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari who spotted big sewer pipes lying on the road in the colony as the residents had complained. Since no one can exactly told who is getting the work done, I have sought a report from the concerned departments on the issue.This entire matter comes under Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA). However, DMC will also keep an eye on it.”